Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Gene Cannoy

Gene Cannoy's debut on Iowa Oddities, 12/15/1940

Francis Eugene “Gene” Cannoy was born in Iowa on October 14, 1919, according to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America record at Ancestry.com. It said Cannoy was baptized in Rembrandt, Iowa on November 23, 1919. Cannoy’s parents were Roy Cannoy and Bertha Michelson.

The 1920 U.S. Federal Census recorded Cannoy, his parents and older brother, Marlin, in Barnes, Iowa on Main Street. Cannoy’s father was a barber.

The Cannoys resided in Rembrandt, Iowa, according to the 1925 Iowa state census. In 1930 the family was back in Barnes.

The Cannoys were Rembrandt residents in the 1940 census. Cannoy completed his first year of college. Information about Cannoy’s art training has not been found.

American Newspaper Comics (2012) said Cannoy was the third of five artists to draw Iowa Oddities for the Register & Tribune. He was preceded by Bud Sauers and Ken Eaton. Cannoy produced Iowa Oddities from December 15, 1940 to December 20, 1942. Canny was followed by Henry Landgren and Tom Swaja.
Cannoy married in 1942. A photograph of Cannoy and his wife appeared in the Register, October 11, 1942. 

Mr. and Mrs. Gene Cannoy, newlyweds, examined some of the built-in features of the clever kitchens in one of the 42 new Victory Homes in Aviation Park. The homes will be opened for public inspection for five days, beginning today. Builder Kraetsch shows one of the Victory Homes to Mr. and Mrs. Gene Cannoy, one of the first young couples to visit Aviation Park.

At some point, Cannoy moved to Los Angeles, California, where he continued to work in the newspaper industry. The Long Beach Independent (California), May 1, 1968, reported the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner newspaper strike in December 1967.

…In another incident, Los Angeles police booked Keith Robert McGraq, 361 of Southgate on suspicion of assault after he allegedly struck the newspaper's art department director as he crossed the picket line. Gene Cannoy, 48, the art director, suffered a cut lip. He is one of the supervisory and non-union employes that have worked at the paper since the strike began last Dec. 15.

Cannoy was listed in the American Art Directory (1986): “Los Angeles Herald Examiner — Gene Cannoy”.

Cannoy passed away December 9, 2009, in Canyon Country, Los Angeles County, California. 

—Alex Jay